Electric furnace.



G. G. LANDIS.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8,1907.

932,296." Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. C. LANDIS.

ELEGTRIC FURNAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8.1907.

932,296, Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

- 2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

30 on the line 66, Fig. Fig. 7

nmrnn sa'rns PAENT orrroa.

GILBERT G. LANDIS, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICANPHOSPHORUS COMPANY, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC FURNAOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 8, 1907. Serial No. 367,034.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT C. LANDIs, a citizen of the United States,residing in York, Pennsylvania, have invented certain 5 Improvements inElectric Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to so construct an electric meltingfurnace as to prevent the rapid burning away of the conduct- 101 inglining of the furnace; to provide means for the even distribution of thematerial within the furnace, and to so design the furnace that therewill be no arcing between the conducting lining and the bottom terminal,and also to provide means by which the tapping openings can be relinedwithout dismantling the furnace. These objects I attain in the followingmanner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

which view on the line 33, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, is a sectional View of partof the furnace on the line M, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, is an enlarged sectionalView of part of the furnace on the line 5-5, Fig. 6; Fig. 6, is asectional view is a perspective view of one of the blocks forming thelining of the tappin openings, and Fig. 8, is an enlarged View of thegas seal for the adjustable carbon electrode.

A is the body of the furnace having a metallic shell a and a metallicbottom plate a turned up and secured to the shell, as illustrated inFig. 1.

B is the non-conducting lining of fire clay,

or other suitable material, and C is the con-- ducting lining of carbonor other suitable material.

c is the working chamber of the furnace surrounded by the carbon liningC,,as shown.

D is the top plate and this top plate has an upwardly extending flangea5 and a downwardly extending flange d. This downwardly extending flangerests in an annular sealing trough a forming part of the casing 0 a ofthe furnace. This trough may contain Water or other suitable sealingagent to prevent the escape of fumes from the furnace between the topplate and the body. The flange d projecting above the top plate forms atray for the reception of water or other cooling fluid so as to maintainthe temperature of the top plate at a low point. The non-conductinglining 13 extends between the top plate and the carbon lining G, asshown, so that the carbon lining does not come in contact with the topplate or the inclosing casing.

Projecting diagonally from the top plate I) are feed tubes D. These feedtubes communicate with the furnace at opposite sides, as clearly shownin Figs. 1 and 2, so that the material, will be fed evenly into thefurnace, preventing the burning away of the lining due to unevenfeeding.

E E are extensions of the tubes D and each extension has a verticallyarranged branch to which is attached a hopper E for the reception ofmaterial.

In each tube D is a scraper e havlng a handle e of a suitable length tonot only scrape the tubes clean, but to extend into the body of thefurnace to break up any crust formed by the material in the workingchamber c.

I is the carbon electrode suspendedfrom a vertically adjustable terminalI guided ln the present instance by rods iz' at each side and mounted ona neck (Z of the top plate D is a gas seal H consisting of two annularplates hh screwed into a ring 7L2, which 1s in turn secured to a flangeon the neck 03 Patentedeing. 24, 1909.

A ring of non-conducting material is is mounted between this ring andthe flange of the neck.

i is an annular plate adapted to enter the space between the two platesh/L. This space between the two plates hh can be filled with anySuitable sealing fluid or other sealing agent so as to prevent theescape of gas at this point.

Snrroundin the seal H is an annular vessel is, which. orms a chamber forthe reception of any water or other sealing hquld which may overflowfrom the sealing chamber, thereby preventing such liquid from forming ashort circuit between the carbon electrode and the cap plate of thefurnace.

The particular form of terminal for the adjustable carbon forms thesubject of a separate application for patent filed on the 3rd day .ofApril, 1907, Serial No. 366,152 and, therefore, I make no claim for thisconstruction in this application.

Extending at a slight incline from the lower end of the working chamber0 are tapping openings 0, which extend entirely through the carbonlining C, and I preferably form'necks a on each side of the casing Athrough which the tap holes 0 extend. The carbon lining is also carriedinto this neck, as shown at c and the non-conducting lining separatesthe carbon lining from the metal casing of the neck, as shown at 'b. Thecarbon lining is preferably extended to form a lip 0 beyond the end ofthe tapping opening, I provide blocks N,

which snugly fit the tapping openings and each block is perforated at nand the perforation is preferably tapered to allow for the free flow offluid from the furnace and also to allow for the ready insertion of atapered plug which closes the opening when it is desired to prevent theflow of material. This plug can be an ordinary wooden block as at n,Fig. 5.

The tapping openings are preferably made quadrangular in shape and theblocks are quadrangular to fit these openings, as shown in Figs. 5 and6. There is one block N placed in each tapping opening, as indicated inFig. 1, and as the block wears it can be removed and another blockinserted in its place; the new block being simply pushed into thetapping opening, or it can remain part way in the opening forming aclear tapping opening and allowing for the ready insertion of a closingplug.

It will be noticed on referring to Figs. 5 and 6, that I preferablyplace a piece of non-conducting material, as at 7), between the capplate a of the neck and the body a of the neck, insulating the carbonlining from the casing at this point.

The furnace is. constructed in the following manner :-The metalliccasing is first made complete without the top plate, then the fire bricklining is built within the metallic casing, after which the conductinglining of carbon, or other suitable material,

' is tamped in. When the lining reaches the point where the terminal isto be inserted a carbon terminal C is placed in position; the outer endprojecting through the neck a and when the material is on a line withthe tapping holes, wooden forms are placed in position, as well as awooden form to produce the central working chamber. Then thenon-conducting material is tamped in all around these forms and almostup to the top of the furnace, after which the fire brick is placed inposition over the conducting material and the several forms withdrawn,leaving the central working chamber and the tapping openings. The topplate is then placed in position and the several connections made asillustrated in Fig. 1. Blocks are placed in the tapping openings so asto provide suitable passages through which the molten metal can flow andalso provide a suitable tapered opening for the closing plug, which maybe of wood or other suitable material.

The adjustable carbon electrode is preferably. made in sections, onesection screw threaded into another, as illustrated, but the carbonelectrode may, insome instances, be made in one piece and may be eithercircular or quadrangular in cross section.

As remarked above the charging openings are directly opposite eachotherso that material will be evenly distributed in the furnace. Myexperience has been that with a furnace having a single charging openingthe wear on the carbon lining of the furnace has been uneven; the sideopposite the charging hole wearing away more rapidly than the chargingside which shows very little wear. I found that the reason for 'this wasdue to the uneven manner of charging. The side where the ore is droppedis protected at all times by the mixture; the opposite side being veryhot slag and unprotected. The iron of this very hot slag acts as asolvent on the carbon. This abnormal wearing away on the side oppositethe charging opening shortened the life of the furnace lining, but Ifound by'having two charging openings, one opposite the other, andcharging the furnace alternately that it not only caused an even wearupon the furnace but prolonged its life, causing the furnace to workvery smoothly. In order to carry off the gases, I provide an opening Din the top plate at one side of one of the feed openings and thisopening may be connected with any suitable conducting pipe or tube.

1. The combination in an electric furnace, of a conducting lining inwhich is formed a working chamber, with a carbon terminal extendingunder the working chamber and laterally through the walls of the furnaceand embedded in the conducting lining, substantially as described.

2. The combination in an electric furnace, of a casing having a neck, anon-conducting lining within the casing, a carbon lining within thenon-conducting lining and forming a working chamber, a tapping openingcommunicating with the bottom of the working chamber, and a carbonterminal cmbedded in the carbon lining and eigtending under the workingchamber and laterally through the neck of the casing, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination in an electric furnace having a carbon lining forminga working chamber, of an inclined tapping opening extending laterallyfrom the lower portion of the working chamber, means for closing thetapping opening, and a carbon terminal projecting from one side of thefurnace, the inner portion of the terminal being embedded in the carbonlining, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a casing, a non conducting lining, a carbon liningwithin the non-conducting lining and forming a working chamber, twonecks on the casing, the carbon lining extending into each neck, atapping opening extending from the bottom of the Working chamber throughone of the necks, and a carbon terminal embedded in the carbon liningand extending through the other neck, substantially as described.

5. The combination in an electric furnace, of a supporting structure, aconducting lining forming a working chamber, said chamber having alaterally extending tap hole passing through the lining, a perforatedblock mounted in said tap hole, an electrodewithin the furnace, aterminal therefor, and a second terminal electrically connected to thelining.

6. The combination in an electric furnace, of a lining of non-conductingmaterial inclosing a lining of conducting material, the inner liningbeing shaped to form a working chamber, two tapping openings, eachtaping chamber to the outer surface of the fur-.

nace, and a perforated block mounted in each tapping opening,substantially as described.

7. The combination in an electric furnace, of a casing having threenecks at the side thereof, a non-conducting lining within the casing andextending into the necks, a conducting lining within the non-conductingping opening arranged at an incline and exlining and having portionsextending into the necks surrounded by the non-conducting lining, saidconducting lining forming a working chamber, two inclined tappingopenings extending from the Working chamber through the non-conductinglining and into and through two of the necks, a carbon terminal embeddedin the lining of the furnace under the working chamber and extendingthrough the other neck, means for feeding material to the workingchamber of the furnace, and a carbon electrode extending into theworking chamber, substantially as described.

8. The combination in an electric furnace, of a casing, a flanged necksecured to the easing at one side of the furnace, a non-conductinglining in the furnace extending into the neck, a conducting lining inthe furnace also extending into the neck, a tapping opening extendingthrough the conducting lining and through the conducting materia in theneck, a cap late, and a' sheet of non-conductin-g materiall between thecap plate and the lining, substantially'as described.

9. The combination in an electric furnace, of a casing, a flanged necksecured to the casing at one side of the furnace, a non-conductinglining in the furnace extending into the neck, a conducting lining inthe furnace also extending into the neck, a tapping opening extendinthrough the conducting lining and throug 1 the conducting materia in theneck, a cap plate, and a sheet of nonconducting material between the capplate and the lining, a portion of the conducting lining extendingthrough the cap plate and the sheet of non-conducting material so as toform a lip over which the molten metal will flow, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of .two subscribing witnesses.

GILBERT C. LANDIS.

WM. A. BARR.

